GPS tracking also known as Satellite tracking has become popular in Kenya, with the introduction of mobile, vehicle,Laptop, personal tracking,wildlife etc, it is now easier than ever to get back your stolen goods. Undoubtedly the one that has become most common and has created more business of all is car tracking due to the number of car breaks and thefts, for example more than 600 vehicles were stolen in 2008 alone according to the police.http://www.kenyapolice.go.ke/resources/CRIME%20STATI2008.pdf
this has made most motor vehilce owners to install tracking devices in their vehilces .
How vehicle tracking works
tracking units are usually fitted into the vehicle in an undisclosed location and capture the vehicle’s activity data like position and timing, this is usually done automatically and the driver of the vehicle does not have to input anything for it work. the data is then transmitted to the tracking company or a mobile phone of the vehicle owner.
is a process whereby biologist, scientific researchers or conservation agencies can remotely observe relatively fine-scale movement or migratory patterns in a free-ranging wild animal
GPS-enabled device will normally record and store location data at a pre-determined interval or on interrupt by an environmental sensor. These data may be stored pending recovery of the device or relayed to a central data store or internet-connected computer using an embedded cellular (GPRS), radio, or sattelite modem. The animal’s location can then be plotted against a map or chart in near real-time or, when analysing the track later, using a GIS package or custom software.
Mobile phone/Laptop tracking
Mobile phone tracking categorized in two ways Network based and handset based
Network-based techniques utilize the service provider’s network infrastructure to identify the location of the handset. The advantage of network-based techniques (from mobile operator’s point of view) is that they can be implemented non-intrusively, without affecting the handsets.
The accuracy of network-based techniques varies, with cell identification as the least accurate and triangulation as the most accurate. The accuracy of network-based techniques is closely dependent on the concentration of base station cells, with urban environments achieving the highest possible accuracy.
Handset-based technology requires the installation of client software on the handset to determine its location for E-911 purposes. This technique determines the location of the handset by computing its location by cell identification, signal strengths of the home and neighboring cells, which is continuously sent to the carrier. In addition, if the handset is also equipped with GPS then significantly more precise location information is then sent from the handset to the carrier.
The key disadvantage of this technique (from mobile operator’s point of view) is the necessity of installing software on the handset. It requires the active cooperation of the mobile subscriber as well as software that must be able to handle the different operating systems of the handsets. Typically, smart phones, such as one based on Symbian, Windows Mobile , iPhone and iPhone OS, or Android, would be able to run such software.
normally a tracking devices software is installed in the laptop which is connected to a server, and once in a day depending on the settings, the device sends some important information about the laptop, eg; location and IP address. in case your laptop gets stolen you can check in the server website and get the exact location of your laptop.
Tracking service providers in Kenya
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